Alberta’s job market keeps booming

EDMONTON - Alberta created 10,100 jobs in November and its unemployment rate was the lowest in the country, Statistics Canada said Friday.

The province’s unemployment rate fell to 4.2 per cent, down from 4.5 per cent in October and 5.0 per cent in November 2011. Year-over-year employment growth in the province was 1.8 per cent, or 38,900 jobs.

In the Edmonton census metropolitan area, the unemployment rate dipped to 4.1 per cent from 4.3 per cent in the previous month and 5.3 per cent from a year earlier. The region’s unemployment rate was ranked second among CMAs in the country. Regina’s rate of 4.0 per cent was lowest and Calgary was third at 4.7 per cent.

The Edmonton region actually lost 400 jobs on a monthly basis, but the labour force also fell by 1,600 people, which nudged the unemployment rate down.

“There was some weakness on the construction and manufacturing side of the economy in November in terms of employment growth,” said City of Edmonton chief economist John Rose. “Most of that was offset by the fact that we saw some pretty solid gains on the services side, particularly professional services, accommodations and food.”

The region’s labour force shrank because students returned to school or people gave up part-time jobs, he said.

“To see the labour force come down in November, it happens. I wouldn’t say it’s anything significant.”

Employment in the region grew by 3.9 per cent year-over-year to 26,600 new positions.

Nationally, employment rose by 59,000 in November and the jobless rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 7.2 per cent.

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